Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-01-05
TORTURED HUMANITY.
RAILWAY DlStSTER MADE DCUBLY
HORRIBLE BY THE FIRE FIERD.
Unfortunates Held by the Wreck and
Slowly Roastcd-Dreadful Ac-
cident in Ohio

Drunken Crew-Nine Persons known t"
Have Perished-CIose Call for a Similar
Horror in observation-disclosures Passenger
Burned. Twenty Wounded aud a Corpse
Cremated.
TIFFIS, Ohio, Jan. 5.-An east bound
freight on the Baltimore & Ohio railway
drawn by engine No. 7:56, while run
ming Tuesday on an upgrade nine miles east
of here and within half a mile of the village
of Republic, gave out and was unable to
make the grade The conductor ran for
ward with a signal to flag the fast train No
5, but it was too late; the train was less than
quarter of mile distant, running at the rate
ofsxty-three miles an hour, and it crashed into
the freight, wrecEng both engines and the
baggage, express. smoking and one passenger
car of the passenger train Within al
most incredibly short space of time
THE WRECK WAS IN FLAMES
and the injured passengers were being
burned The passengers in the two sleepers
and one coach escaped, numbering about
fifty in number Nineteen passengers in the
smoker are all killed One Irish smigrant
alone escaped from the smoker, but after
ward died OF his wounds. He did not give
his name The engineer of the passenger
Jumped and escaped with a dislocated knee
The fireman was pinned between two beams
crushing his hips, He lived three mortal
hours in that position and then died
NINE CHARRED AND BLACKENED BODIES,
h. off pA-e1a and
laid in a row on the floor of the undertaker's
room, at Republic The sight was horrible
one, and there was no resemblance to human
bodies in the remains. At least ten more are
supposed TO have persisted and been entirely
burned up. There is nothing about the bod
les which can help to identify theuI- The
following were among
THOSE WHO Persisted;
Joseph Postlethwaite, aged 81, and his two
sons, Spencer and Henry, aged IS and II re
spectiveIy. He was from New Martinsville,
w. Va, and was accompanied by his wife
and three other small children, the four lat
ter being saved They We're on their way to
Chillocothe, Mo, to make that their home.
C. ?. Bradley, of Washington City a
prominent Knight of Labor, on his way west
to lecture. He was held by the feet in the
1t was impossible TO extricate him, and he
burned to death by inches. He gave his
watch and papers into the safe keeping Of
others
The smoker contained from twelve TO
twenty passengers, some of whom Were i'm
migrants, and but two men escaped alive,
and one of these, an Irish immigrant, was
so terribly bruised and burnt that be viii
die. The name of the man who escaped un
injured could not be learned B3ggagemas
ter ". F. Gates, of Newark, was the ouiy
man in his car and he was hurt in both legs
being badly cut up with splinters, and had
an iron rod run through one leg Pierce. the
express messenger, was burned {" crisp III
his car
Mrs Postlethwate and her children are Left
destitute, as the proceeds of the sale Of their
household goods in Martinsburg, some 81, 400.
was in Mr. Postlethwaite's pocket and WAS
burned with him.
NJ H Parks. whose address he did not
give, was found wedged in the wreck, and
was burned to death after handing his money
and letters to one of the railroad employees
His body was entirely consumed. as were
also those of several others whose names are
not known, and perhaps never will be In
the undertaking establishment of the little
village, charred and blackened beyond sem
blance to humanity, lie the disfgured re
mains of nine of the victims, burned dry
and without perceptible odor None OF then
could be recognized but Postlethwaita ana
his two sons, who were found in II position
which estahlshe their identity.
A Mr. Smith, of BenwoOd, W. Va, was in
the car next to the smoker and was nnhurt.
He says that the shock was not very great
one. He was thrown from his seat and
thought the train had left the track No
BODY was very seriously hurt in his coach
beyond severe bruises cuts and burns
Physicians were summoned from this city
and from Republic and rendered efficient
ssrvi, to the wounded About dozen per
sons tse.ro wounded who have not been iden-
titled
Prominent railway officials are present and
investigating the matter. Tt is impossible to
tell now who was TO blame, but it is learned
that the engineer, fireman, and the whole
crew of the freight train were drunk AMI
neglerrfuI If their duty. The coroner of the
county will make a full Investigation. The
woun.l-t were all hustled out of the county
as quickly us possible by the rsllway oifi-
rIaI5
TIE LATEST.
Though only nine bodies have beenrecove-ei
from the burning wreck. there must have
been many more killed, a. the tally of those
who escaped and those wounded Is far short
OF the number at parsons known to have
been on the train Several wat.'he, foiInd in
the ruins may serve 10 identity some of The
victims One of the Uatchr, /, open face
three ounce. Iswel mounted Springfield
movement. c,t<- marked ! ~ n &, 90
barrel bridge.
THE COMPLETE LIST OF VICTIMS.
The following is a complete list Of the
killed and wounded in the collision, So far n
it is possible to ascertain now %, viii ever
probably, be known:
Killed-Jnseph Postlethwaite, Bolton,
Wcntzell county, W Va, and his two sons-
Spencer and Henry Postlethwaite; W Srott
Pierce, express messenger. Newhurg. W.
Va Frank Irwin. lineman, Bitckhand. Ohio:
J. NJ Francis. lneman, Rlackhaud, ONO;
William Frederirks, fireman. Washington ::
C. P Bradley, officer OF Knights Of lbor,
Washington There ara nina distinct bodies
that are burned to crisp and mass OF
charrPd remains, including pieces Of skull aud
bones How many persons this represents
,,-iII -, 7.